Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



Breach-Loading Fire-Arm.

No. 213,760. Patented April i, 1879.

UNITED 'SraTEsPATE-:NT Duuren cHAuLEs A. KING, oF MERIDEN, connucrrcur.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-Anlvis.

v specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 213,760, dated Ain-n1, 1879 application nica September 6, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 4CHARLES A. KING, of

VMeriden, in the State of Connecticut, have invented 'a new and1usefulImprovement in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms; and that thefol` lowing is afull, clear,'and exact description thereof, reference being had to .theaccompaalso to relieve the hinge or joint from much of the strain andshock from the dropping of the forward end of the barrels in tiltingthem.

To this end my invention consists of alatch pivoted in the frame behindthe joint, and provided with a short arm below its pivot, against thefront side of which a lug on the lower side of the barrel, and in frontof the latch, strikes when the rear end of the barrel is forced downinto place to throw the upper end of the latch forward into position tocatch against the lug when the'rear end of the barrel is tilted up. Thebarrel is detach ed from the frame by moving the barrel back alittlewhen tilted up,and then immediately moving it forward again and it alsoconsists of a spring secured in the lug, which strikes against the latcha little before the lug strikes, which operates to give a littleelasticity to the blow in tilting the barrel suddenly and assists inrelieving the shock, all which will be more fully hereinafter described.Y

Figure I is a longitudinal vertical section of a portion of a doublebreech-loading fire-arm having my invention applied thereto. Fig'. II isa rear view of the lug on the lower side of the barrels, with thespring-piece secured therein, which first strikes the latch when thebarrels are tilted down at the fore end. Fig. III is a front view of thelatch, with a friction-piece secured in the side; and Fig. IV is a sideview of the latch and a friction-piece secured thereto.

In the drawings, A represents the frame, to which are hung the barrels Bat the joint F,

and which contains the mechanism for locking vthe barrels down in placeat their rear end.

Alug, D, is made on the lower side of the barrels behind the joint F,andon the lower rear side of -this lug is a projection, fi. Just behindthis lug is pivoted in the-frame at c a latch, a, fhavin g a short arm,e, below the pivot c,- and the forward edge of this latch is of suchform that when the barrels are forced down at the rear end the rear endof the projection t' will strike against the front edge'of the short arme, and force the upper end of the latch a forward into a position quitenear to the rear side of the lug D and over the projection t', so thatwhen the bolt H is drawn back and the fore end ofthe barrels dropsuddenly the proA jection t', in passing up, will catch against theupper end of the latch (t.

To further assist inremoving the shock from this sudden tilting of thebarrels, I make a space midway the width of the lower part of the lug Dandin the projection t', and secure therein a piece, C, which, althoughvery firm and rigid, possesses suficient elasticity to slightly yieldwhen it strikes the upper end of the latch a, the rear end of the pieceC being made a little higher than the projection t' to strike the latchfirst, which lessens the blow against the projection i. This piece C isnot essential to the successful operation of the latch and projection,however, as they operate perfectly without it.

In order to cause the latch to vibrate on its pivot with the properfriction to remain in any position in which it may be placed, I make arecess in the side of the latch, and place therein a spring, f, one partof which bears against the latch and the other part against the frame 5or, if more desirable, the latch itself may be made in two portions,except at one end, and be tempered at that end sufficiently to cause thetwo parts to spring apart against the frame at each side tomove with thedesired amount of friction 5 or the latch may be solid, and made toperfectly till the recess in the frame in the direction of its width andpress against` its sides.

The operation of my invention is as follows: When the barrels are lockeddown with the bolt H in the recess H of the lug` N on the barrels, therear end of the projection t' on the lug D is against the front edge ofthe short arm e ofthe latch, so that if the rear end of the barrel isreleased by withdrawing the bolt Il the fore end of the barrels dropsuddenly, and, the rear ends rising as quickly, the upper side oftheprojection i and piece C secured therein strike against and are held bythe catch at the upper end of the latch a, thus relieving the parts atthe/ joint of the greater portion of the strain.

To separate the barrels from the frame the fore end is detached from thebarrels, and the latter are then moved to the rear into a posi tionshown in dotted lines at the rear end of the barrels in Fig. I, whichmovement pushes back the upper end of the latch a, and the barrels arethen carried forward against the joint again, and by tilting their foreend still farther down the lug D is easily unhooked from the joint F.

I am aware that various devices have heretofore been made and used torelieve the joint from the shock in tilting` the barrels, as shown inpatents to Sneider, December 22, 1868,

Dangerfield, September 3, 1872, and Sneider, April 7, 11874, and also inpatent to Baker, April 16, 1878, and I do not claim the same; but,

Having described my invention, what I do claim isl. A hooked latch, a,provided at its lower end with an incline 0r arm, e, pivoted in theframe below the barrels, and combined with a shouldered lug orprojection on the latter, by which, when the barrels are in place, thelatch is turned into position for engagement with the shoulder on saidlug when the breech is open, substantially as described.

2. In a breech-loading lire-arm, the combination of the spring-piece C,the projection z', anda catch secured in the frame of the arm, againstwhich said springpiece and projection strike, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

CHARLES A. KING. Witnesses:

L. J. GAINES, FRED C. BoRsT.

